-Dr.

Tom Vendetti, a psychologist and filmmaker, has been clinically following and filming Sam Khong for over 20 years.

Tom noticed Sam looking distraught on a Hawaiian beach.

He asked how he was doing.

And Sam replied, "I feel like killing myself every day."

He went on to say that he needed to know if his family was still alive in Cambodia.

Sam said that when he was a teenager, he was in the Cambodian navy, fighting the Viet Cong.

The United States military recognized his talent and sent him to receive intensive military training in Texas, with the idea that he would return to Cambodia to fight.

While in Texas, however, Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge and he couldn't return home.

He would have been killed.

Over time, Sam suffered from extreme PTSD and eventually was diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

Dr.

Vendetti told Sam that he would arrange a meeting with his treatment team and set a goal for him to return to Cambodia.

-[ Speaking Khmer ] [ Gunfire ] -Mr.

Khong is a 47-year-old Cambodian male who has a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and a diagnosis we call psychotic disorder NOS.

[ Cambodian folk music plays ] ♪♪ -Some of the things that were bothering Sam were he had a lot of nightmares.

He had some physical problems, heart problems, fainting.

But mainly, the main thing that was bothering him was depression and the symptoms from what had happened to him during the war over there when he was a young man.

♪♪ -Sam hasn't had any resolution to the depression.

He has not had the opportunity to come to terms with the loss of his family and his culture.

And I believe that a return to Cambodia might help him come to terms with some of these ongoing problems.

♪♪ -With the family, Sam needs closure, whether it's to be reintroduced to his family and to have that group of people to care about and to care about him or whether to know that he should grieve their loss because they're gone.

But I think it's really important for him at this point to come to some determination on that.

And, again, the PTSD symptoms that have been plaguing him, I think that the best resolution to that will be to go back to Cambodia where those events occurred and to be able to work through them and to resolve them.

♪♪ -I miss my family, my brother, my sisters, and I need to go back to find them.

If they're still alive or dead, I do not know.

♪♪ ♪♪ -After months of preparation, Sam arrived in Cambodia on March 18, 2003.

29 years later, Sam was arriving home.

It took him two days, across seven time zones, to travel from Hawaii to his native Kampuchea.

Sam stayed at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, and old colonial building overlooking the river, a former gathering place of journalists covering the war.

He began his search for his family with the Cambodian Red Cross.

Prior to going to the Red Cross, he felt discouraged and confused by the growth of Phnom Penh to approximately a million people.

His neighborhood was gone.

Roads weren't the same.

Still, Sam had great expectations that the Red Cross would locate his family within a reasonable time.

But he soon discovered the difficulties facing him when the Red Cross said it would take three months to initiate the search.

Bypassing the bureaucracy, Sam decided to broadcast his search for family on the national Cambodian television and radio and to place an ad in the Cambodian newspaper.

Sam's young passport photo turned out to be a valuable link.

-[ Speaking Khmer ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Conversing in Khmer ] -Sam found the courage to visit the Museum of Genocidal Crime, housed in a former school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison of torture.

20,000 people died.

[ Dramatic music plays ] Sam went to the museum to see if he could recognize any of his family in the macabre gallery of Khmer Rouge victims.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Vann Nath, a survivor of the prison, captured the horror of what the victims endured in his paintings.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Sam followed his visit to the museum with a walk through the infamous killing fields of Choeung Ek, where over 17,000 people met their death.

♪♪ The killing fields consisted of 129 excavated mass graves, each of which once held hundreds of victims.

♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Chanting in Khmer ] -At the end of this day, with its sobering reminders of the ravages of war.

Sam turned on the TV in his room and witnessed the beginning of a new war in Iraq.

The next morning, the waiting game began.

Sam took the opportunity to explore the city of his youth and get in touch with his culture again.

Phnom Penh, a city of contrasts, is a lively, growing place, evidenced by the number of motorbikes and cars on the road.

However, its charm lies in its colonial buildings, wide boulevards, and riverside walks where so much of a Cambodian daily life can be observed.

[ Dramatic music plays ] ♪♪ To fill the time, he waited expectantly for a response to ads.

Sam took a boat ride on the Mekong River to his old naval base.

It was a sticky march day as Sam and his fellow travelers floated along the Mekong River, watching the floating... villages, shantytowns, and wooden houses perched on stilts along the shoreline.

♪♪ ♪♪ Suddenly, the guide's cellphone rang, rousing the group from its sightseeing stupor.

It was for Sam.

♪♪ -He said... -Wow.

A lady called.

-Back at the hotel, the group anxiously listened to hear who had called.

-Hey.

Your mother, too?

Wow!

-Five minutes.

-Huh?

Five minutes?

-Five minutes.

-Oh!

That is -- What?!

-So, Sam, who is it?

-My mother, my nephew.

-Oh!

-Great, huh?

-Yes.

Happy hour.

-Happy hour.

-Sam's tiny mother, Van, now 81 years old, arrived on the back of a moped.

Sam and his mother tentatively walked toward each other and embraced, their eyes welling with tears.

His mother excitedly attempted to bring him up to date by providing him with information and cherished photographs of the family -- photographs that survived the war and Khmer Rouge years.

Even though Sam was heavily drugged with psychiatric medication that masked his emotions, he felt more at this moment than he had felt in years.

His dream had come true.

-[ Chanting in Khmer ] -The three-hour ride to his family village the next day was long, bumpy, and dusty.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] As the van turned off the main highway onto the dirt road leading to the village, Sam's relatives and other curious onlookers began pouring out of the wooden houses.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] As he walked down the path, family members clung to him and cried.

Word spread of his arrival, and a crowd grew.

He was greeted as a war hero returning home.

It seemed like a miracle, like he had walked out of the void of darkness back into the present.

[ Laughter ] -Sinuon, his youngest sister, couldn't stop touching him as the group sat on the platform under one of the family homes, seeking shade from the hot Cambodian sun.

Sam's pacemaker was a curiosity that marveled everyone.

-"My granddaughter."

-What?

-Son?

[ Laughter ] -No.

-Sam and the Maui crew were invited to lunch in a cousin's home.

Knowing that they were there in the house, the community filled the home, watching and socializing.

-Oh, really?

-Sam decided to stay with his family in the village that night.

During the evening, he discovered a snake on the mosquito net of his hammock.

The family stir-fried the snake, calling it a blessing.

[ Horns honking ] -The Maui crew spent the night 40 miles away in Kampong Thom.

Until recently, this city was a restricted area because it was under the control of the Khmer Rouge.

This is where Sam's family travels to buy supplies and make telephone calls.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] 70% of Cambodians engage in agriculture.

The influence of the French can still be seen in the carts with fresh-baked baguettes.

The smell of diesel fumes, not so fresh fish, and vegetation permeated the air.

Vendors sold vegetables, fruits, crabs, skinned frog legs, and a variety of other fish spread out on mats.

The crew marveled at the resilience of the people.

They'd survived the destruction of their economy, the genocide and torture of their families living under a ruthless, cruel regime.

They still must deal with vagaries of the current government and lack of infrastructure taken for granted by Western nations.

Each day they deal with power outages and an unhygienic water supply and sewage system.

There is still much to do to improve their health and living conditions.

However, the problems of daily life have hardly become mere inconveniences to them.

They have found a way to overcome the hardships of present life.

[ Whistle blowing ] [ Cambodian folk music plays ] Watching the hypnotic motion of the people entering the city, one can only contemplate how they find the courage to carry on.

After all the pain and suffering they have endured, this ability to move on is reflected in a wonderful Zen story.

Two monks were once traveling together down a muddy road.

A heavy rain was falling.

Coming around the bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash unable to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl," said the first monk, lifting her into his arms.

The second monk did not speak again until that night, when they reached the lodging temple.

Then he could no longer restrain himself.

"We monks don't go near females," he said.

"It is dangerous.

Why did you do that?"

The first monk replied, "I left the girl there.

Are you still carrying her?"

♪♪ Sam, his mother, brother, and nephew traveled to Angkor Wat so Sam could continue connecting with his family and culture.

As they traveled, his mother told the story of the displacement of the family after the fall of Phnom Penh and the 15-day walk to another province.

She walked with a pole across her shoulders, carrying bundles filled with the family possessions.

After arriving at the hotel, Sam's mother talked more about Sam and the war.

-She's saying if Sam came back in '75, he will die, because that in '75, the war was beginning, until 1979.

If he comes back that year, he will die.

-[ Speaking Khmer ] -All the soldiers of the Khmer Rouge will kill all.

-During the Vietnamese war, United States troops backed the government of Lon Nol, who allowed the U.S.

to fight the Viet Cong inside Cambodia.

Nixon ordered the bombing of Cambodia, and Lon Nol allowed the U.S.

to bomb the eastern part of the country.

[ Dramatic music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Nixon ordered the bombing of Cambodia, and Cambodia allowed the U.S.

to bomb the eastern part of the country.

♪♪ During the years that the United States was bombing Cambodia, approximately a half-million tons of ordnance was dropped on the countryside.

That represents 350% of the tonnage dropped on Japan during World War II.

The bombing was especially intense during the summer of 1973.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ The bombing was indiscriminate, and many fell over densely populated portions of the country.

Thousands of deaths occurred.

♪♪ The outrage survivors turned to the Khmer Rouge after the U.S.

bombings and strengthened their movement.

♪♪ [ Crying, screaming in Khmer ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Pol Pot's army grew from a small guerrilla group to a fierce fighting machine, gaining momentum after the U.S.

bombings and the belief that the country would return to a nation similar to the ancient years of Angkor.

The vision was to create a pure, idealistic communist society.

Little did they know what was in store for them.

[ Gunfire ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ When the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh, they were greeted as victors.

Then, the Khmer Rouge turned on the people.

♪♪ Pol Pot became a follower of Mao Zedong.

He commanded that everyone in Phnom Penh evacuate their homes, and he forced 2.5 million out of the city into the countryside, leaving Phnom Penh a ghost town and Cambodia a nation of homeless refugees.

One of the most brutal restructuring of a society was underway.

♪♪ Under the Khmer Rouge, indiscriminate terror spread throughout the country as atrocities were committed.

It's estimated that 1.5 million to 2 million people perished under the Khmer Rouge.

The death toll is only part of the nightmare.

♪♪ ♪♪ The people were put into fields, building waterways and working in the rice paddies.

♪♪ -[ Chanting in Khmer ] -The lucky ones survived the killing fields and torture centers.

-Oh, I feel great.

I see my mom.

I lost her for 29 years.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] Very happy.

Very, very happy... that I'm still alive.

For 30 years, she haven't seen me.

Dreams -- she's got no dreams, she's got no nightmares.

She never dreamed of somebody hurt her or anything like that.

Cambodia.

Buddhist.

Yeah.

She pray to Buddha so she don't have to sleep with a bad dream.

I feel very, very wonderful to see my family again.

And thanks to all of you that helped me out.

You are my guardian angels.

[ Laughter ] -The ancient temples of Angkor are the spiritual center for Cambodia and its people.

As part of his healing process and the reawakening of his cultural past, Sam and his family went to Angkor to spend their last days together.

[ Bells chiming ] The temples are a dramatic example of the people's devotion to their faith.

They were built between the 9th and 14th Centuries, at the apex of the Khmer civilization.

The temples are all that remain of a once thriving and sacred governmental religious center.

[ Soft music plays ] ♪♪ During the time of Angkor, the royal family practice Hinduism.

The temples are ringed in bass relief depicting Hindu epic events.

Although the country is predominantly Buddhist now, Hinduism was practiced alongside Buddhism up to the 14th Century.

♪♪ The Khmer Rouge killed most of the Buddhist monks during 1975 and 1979, but now you see them throughout the countryside, meandering through the temples of Angkor.

Sam's mother is a devout Buddhist, and her religion eases the burdens of the terror and the hardships of life under the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot.

The goal of Buddhism is to reach a blessed state in which all suffering ends.

This belief was a source of strength for Sam's mother.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Thunder rumbling ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Thunder rumbling ] ♪♪ -[ Chanting in Khmer ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Sam's journey was ending, but yet another surprise greeted him at breakfast the last day.

His youngest brother, Vutung, a fisherman who was away from the village during Sam's visit, appeared at the hotel an hour before Sam's departure and joined him for his last breakfast in Cambodia.

He, too, had heard the radio request for Sam's family members.

The family accompanied Sam to the airport, just as they had done 29 years earlier.

Once again, his mother watched him leave.

This time, however, there was a sense of hope and a new beginning.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] -[ Chanting in Khmer ] -We've been back now from Cambodia three months, and Sam is doing extremely well.

Probably the first thing that anyone said to me about Sam was that he looked alive, that he had expression in his eyes and his face.

And he's much more enthusiastic about life now.

He's applied for citizenship.

He is thinking about vocational rehabilitation or a part-time job, and he's sleeping better and having less depression and very few psychotic symptoms right now.

-Oh, I feel great.

After coming back from Cambodia, I feel a lot better, and I sleep a lot better.

Less depression, less anxiety.

Well, normally, I'm depressed, like, almost every day before.

But now, like, every couple of days, I have a thought a little bit, but not much, like before.

Before, like, I hurt myself almost every day.

But now I don't feel like to hurt myself anymore, because I found my family and give me hope.

-I think the most dramatic thing that we noticed was the reaction of the people around him, that he really seems happier and more alive.

And he's talking about his future, something that he hadn't done for a very long time.

He's talking about part-time employment or retraining with vocational rehabilitation.

He's talking about sending money home to help his family.

And he's had several telephone calls from his mother and brothers in Cambodia.

So... I've noticed a dramatic improvement.

-Yes.

I feel a lot better.

After I came back from Cambodia, I feel a lot better, because I saw my family, my brother, my sisters.

I feel alive again, and... Now I put an application for citizenship that I can travel to Cambodia -- to Cambodia by my own, without help.

And now I can sleep better, I eat better, I feel a lot better.

And I take medication daily, and... I feel great.

[ Gong crashes ] -When Sam arrived in Cambodia, he was greeted by the King of Cambodia and the legendary Bernie Krisher.

He also was thanked by the Minister of Education for building the school in this village.

-...Cambodia schools and children.

Thank you very much.

And so you will be soon fully recovered.

Have the opportunity... -Members of the Maui community were also present.

[ Cambodian folk music plays ] -[ Speaking indistinctly ] ♪♪ -When he first arrived in the village, he was greeted by his mother.

They proceeded to the school-opening ceremony, where the villagers had come to honor him.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Buddhist monks located in the village performed the official blessing, blessing them for their school contribution.

Bernie Krisher addressed the villagers with the opening comments.

Bernie had helped build over 300 schools in Cambodia.

He was also the leading force in building a hospital and orphanages in Cambodia.

He is a living legend.

-...and he was in the United States, in Texas, to receive this training.

♪♪ -Now it was Sam's turn to greet the villagers and express his gratitude regarding how wonderful it was to be home again and to help open the school.

-[ Speaking Khmer ] ...Maui, Hawaii.

-Welcome to our village, everybody come from Hawaii.

I take time and opportunity to grant my appreciation.

And many thanks to community of Maui for their support and kindness and dedication to help bring our dream, my mother and mine, to be real and true.

I am so full of gratitude and joy.

And, also, my heart and soul are overwhelmed.

-The villagers honored Sam with a medal, thanking him.

[ Applause ] ♪♪ The formal opening of the school started with the cutting of the red ribbon.

♪♪ ♪♪ Inside the school, Sam, Dr.

Tom Vendetti, and other Maui community members signed the official documents opening the school.

♪♪ ♪♪ After the children entered, Sam and the Maui community members handed out school supplies.

The children were extremely excited to receive them.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ [ Conversing in Khmer ] Outside the school, everyone gathered to greet and thank Sam, the Maui community members, and Bernie.

The Cambodia press was there, conducting interviews and documenting the opening.

The villagers were thrilled to meet Bernie.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Sam's dream of opening the school for his family and villagers had become a reality that brought him much integrity and contentment.

Sam traveled from Maui to Bangkok on February 2, 2025.

-I'm home now.

-When Sam arrived at the airport in Phnom Penh, he was thrilled to be back home.

-I'm glad I'm home, Tom.

I'm home now.

I'm glad to see my family again, okay?

[ Laughs ] All changing.

Tremendously.

[ Laughs ] Real changing.

-Sam decided to visit the site where he reunited with his mother in 2003.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club was gone and being renovated into a new entity.

-The old building is now gone.

That there's the spot where I found my mom, right here, right this part.

-As he continued walking along the riverside walkway, he noticed that most of the vendors were gone that once filled the walkway.

Many of them now were located on the side streets.

[ Cambodian folk music plays ] However, as the late afternoon arrived and the city cooled, the walkway came alive.

There were some vendors, as well as cultural and religious ceremonies taking place.

♪♪ This is where Sam played as a young boy, often swimming in the river.

It brought back many joyful memories.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Mid-tempo music plays ] As the sun was setting over the city, Sam was also settling down and processing his past.

He was planning to visit the Tuol Sleng prison the following morning to confront the horror of war and share his insight and feelings.

He felt the need to continue stepping forward.

The notion of moving forward is voiced in this writing.

"Step forward.

Our attachment to our old story limits our freedom.

We cling to the woes of the past to justify the present.

We limit our potential by remaining devoted to our limiting beliefs.

We repeat ourselves endlessly, never realizing that a new road lies ahead, waiting.

Our creative spirit, our thoughts and feelings decide the pathway forward.

Let go of the stepping stones of the past.

Allow life to unfold as the adventure it is meant to be."

The next morning, as Sam drove to the prison, he started reflecting upon the war and the past.

It generated many painful images and feelings.

This was the place where he visited in 2003 to see if there was evidence of his loved ones being alive or put to death.

[ Dramatic music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -22 years ago, I came over here to find my family.

But what I found was a dead people.

♪♪ Killing is not a solution.

Only love and compassion.

♪♪ When I walk around, I see people dead, I feel really sad.

Broke my heart, you know?

And killing -- it's not solution.

Only love and compassion.

[ Voice breaking ] That is the only way.

♪♪ [ Speaks indistinctly ] ♪♪ Killing is not a solution.

You create more problem.

♪♪ ♪♪ -As Sam left the Tuol Sleng prison, it was evident of the emotional effects that war has on an individual.

Sam was diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness in America.

Some people would say that he was insane.

But if we focus on what is truly insane, it is war.

It's time for the madness, despair, and suffering of war to stop.

♪♪ -Bye, Phnom Penh.

[ Conversing indistinctly ] -Early the next day, Sam left Phnom Penh to travel to his village.

-All... [ Speaks indistinctly ] But now... -The original trip back in 2003 took over three hours due to the bumpy, dusty dirt road.

-Now beautiful road, yeah.

Nice road.

-It was also still dangerous to travel on the road due to the Khmer Rouge.

But now the road was paved, safe.

Sam was amazed with the wonderful condition of the road and the activity on the side road.

Seeing the schoolchildren on the side of the road brought much joy to Sam.

-All the school student right there.

They come out now.

-After taking the turn off to the village, Sam was surprised the road was paved.

They finally found the road and the house.

The family was extremely excited to see him again.

[ Cambodian folk music plays ] [ Conversing in Khmer ] ♪♪ -My brother-in-law!

♪♪ -They planned a special dinner for him by catching fish, crayfish, and vegetables all from their own land.

The village is primarily a farming community.

Sit back and enjoy its quiet and peaceful setting.

♪♪ [ Bells jingling ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ There is a wedding taking place in the village.

The wedding ceremony can last up to three days.

The evening ended with Sam visiting his mother's grave, praying with some of his family members.

[ Birds chirping ] The next day, Sam visited the school.

The school is located on the Buddhist monastery grounds that was donated for the cause.

♪♪ Sam was excited to see the school and how well it was being run.

The principal started the day with the planned school lessons, with physical education being what came next.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] -The primary school teaches approximately 100 children per day, 6 days a week.

[ Conversing in Khmer ] There are three classrooms dividing the children up according to their age and their learning needs.

Sam was extremely gratified to witness the school's success by watching the children's desire to learn and become educated.

[ Students reciting in Khmer ] Sam addressed the teachers and children, introducing himself and telling them how the school was funded by his friends in the Maui community.

-That's how we wind up in Maui and we try to raise money, help to build a school for the children in the community.

-Sam is now considering spending his remaining years with his family and loving village.

[ Cambodian folk music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪